Principal's Message: 8th November 2024

Mr Hein has now challenged me to be slimed next. I informed students that with one week to go in our fundraising, I will nominate myself if we meet our target of $10,000. We are currently sitting just shy of $8000. Can we get there?!

We’ve just returned from another successful Sports Day. I extend an enormous thank you to Miss Sottile who once again prepared an amazing event, with no detail being overlooked. Ithank all of the parents and grandparents who showed up today to help make the day as successful as it was.
Congratulations to all our students who gave every event their best, played fairly and supported their team mates.
A final congratulations to the Blue team for finishing on top of the leaderboard. 

We are noticing that the number of students arriving late is increasing.

When students are late to school, it is often difficult to re-engage when their classmates are in the middle of a task or if their teacher has already commenced a lesson.

This can often lead to school refusal (or school can’t) because they feel anxious entering the classroom when things are settled.

If your child’s tardiness is related to their not wanting to attend, there are often many things we can do to help this.

This time of year is a busier-than-usual time for schools as we prepare for 2025. This can also be a huge time for change. Next year, we will see a number of staffing changes. While we are still in the process of hiring new teachers, we can announce the following:

• Angela Hamilton has tendered her resignation
• Anthea Zimmerman has tendered her resignation to explore new challenges closer to home
• Britt Densmore has decided to look for work closer to home
• Rachel Trovarelli has accepted a leadership position at St Joseph’s in Werribee
• Anna Lennon will commence a new job closer to her family home on the coast
• Randa Assaad (Miss A) will be exploring options closer to home
• Maree Nanos has accepted a position with her former school, Holy Rosary in Kensington
• Alessandra Sottile has accepted a full-time PE role at Lowther Hall in Essendon
• Peter Fraser (Learning Support) having finished his University Degree in Social Work will be looking for work in his field of study 
• Jane Kirkwood will reduce her work days to one day per week in 2025
• Nancy Leone returns from parental leave for 3 days per week

I thank them all for their commitment to our students and community.

We will be acknowledging the wonderful contribution of these staff in our end of year celebrations.

We are pleased to announce the following new staff to St Mary’s in 2025:

• Laura Barker (part-time) from St Mary's Williamstown. Laura has held several leadership positions and has been a sessional lecturer at Victoria University this year.
• Nikita West (part-time) from St Anthony of Padua, Melton South. If her name sounds familiar, it may be because Nikita did some CRT work with us earlier this year
• Andrea Fernandes (part-time) from St Martin de Porres, Laverton. Andrea was a former student of St Mary's
• Kate Haywood (full-time) from St Clare's, Thomastown (another recruit from my former school)
• Carla Lolicato (Arts) from Holy Eucharist, St Alban's.

Given what started as a means to an end earlier this year, STEM was widely well-received by our students. We have decided to make STEM a permanent specialist subject from next year. Ms Pelar will return as our STEM teacher next year.

We will combine Performing Art with Visual Art into an Arts program next year. Carla, our new Arts teacher has experience in running successful Arts programs and has already shared some great ideas with me for our school production that will take place in 2025.

We are still finalising staffing arrangements for 2025 and hope to make further announcements in the coming weeks.

Next week you will receive an email via Operoo about 2025 fees and levies. This message will explain fee increases across MACS schools and outline our specific fees and levies for 2025. If you have any questions about the content of the message, please let me know.

All the best for a restful weekend,

Respect • Responsibility • Resilience • Courage